Akigo Kogiku guided Cerezo Osaka to a terrific April, taking them all the way up to first place and earning the boss Manager of the Month honors.

The Sakura began the month with a draw at Kashiwa Reysol, then rolled off wins at Albirex Niigata and home to Kawasaki Frontale. The outstanding defense that Kogiku orchestrated gave up just one goal in those three games.

Cerezo suffered their lone loss of April to Nagoya Grampus, but bounced back with a draw against Yokohama F·Marinos that took them to the top of the table.

Kogiku both assembled a strong defense and created a system that gave Léo Ceará a freedom in the attacking third that has made him one of the league’s most dangerous players. That combination landed the Sakura in first place when April came to a close.

In J2, Takahiro Shimotaira was honored as top manager after leading V-Varen Nagasaki to five wins from five matches in April. Nagasaki were phenomenal in all phases of play, out-scoring opponents 14-5 in the month.

Manager of the Month in J3 went to Omiya Ardija’s Tetsu Nagasawa. Omiya had an undefeated April, winning three and drawing one while scoring seven goals against just two conceded.